National Lutheran Choir – Minneapolis/St. Paul | celebrating the art and culture of sacred choral music

Myra DeNeui

Myra is the Senior Director of Business Development at Hollstadt & Associates. She is a member of the choir at Augustana Lutheran Church in West Saint Paul, and a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Arthur Halbardier, vice chair

Art is a pastor (ELCA) who served congregations in Missouri and Illinois. Prior to ordination, Art was an organist and choral director in churches in New York City and Chicago. He received his Masters of Music degree in conducting from Northwestern University. In addition to church music, he built and repaired harpsichords. Art and his wife Elaine moved to the Twin Cities in 2005. He and Elaine are members of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, and sing in the Mount Olive Cantorei.

Linda Holmen, secretary

A business owner and piano teacher, Linda also volunteers for a number of nonprofit organizations around the Twin Cities. She is an active member at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview, a member of the Twin City Flute Ensemble, and a member of "Evangelion," a choral ensemble that tours in Ukraine every other summer. Linda and her husband, Ken, graduated from Augsburg College and have two grown children.

Jane Horn

Jon Kietzer

Tiffany Quast, choir representative

William Raabe

Bill and his wife Nancy, residents of Bexley, OH, have supported Lutheran church music, composers, and organizations for many years.  Bill teaches in the business school at the Ohio State University, where he specializes in tax law and charitable giving.  He sang in Milwaukee with the Master Singers and the Lutheran A Cappella Choir, and with the choruses of the Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minnesota symphony orchestras.

Clarance M. Smith, Chair

Clarance has training in banking and finance, and is employed by Wells Fargo in the Risk Management department. He is an active member of the Minneapolis Synod of the ELCA and Westwood Lutheran Church, Saint Louis Park, where he sings in the A Cappella Choir. In addition, Clarance is a member of the Compline Choir and formerly served on the Board of the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis. He graduated from the University of Texas-Austin, where he sang with the Longhorn Singers. He lives with his wife, Denise, and their two teenage children in Minneapolis.

Rebecca Jorgenson Sundquist

Paul F. Tillquist

Paul is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, where he sang in the concert choir, and now works in development. He also sang tenor in the Edina Chorale and the National Lutheran Choir. Paul is a member of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview. He's married to Ruth, with whom he has two grown children.

Mark B. Uecker, treasurer

Semi-retired, Mark is co-owner of a business.  He has degrees from Concordia College in Moorhead and the University of St. Thomas.  At Concordia, Mark sang with the Concordia Choir for four years.  He is also a member of "Evangelion," a choral ensemble comprising several other National Lutheran Choir members that tours in Ukraine every other year.  Mark is a charter member of the National Lutheran Choir.  He resides in Eagan with his wife and two adopted rescue dogs.